Race Pace Promotions

December 9, 1993 | RICK VANDERKNYFF, Rick VanderKnyff is a free-lance writer who regularly contributes to The Times Orange County Edition. and

Dana Point's Rudolf Runoff 5K drew 1,000 runners last year, and more are expected for its fifth running Sunday. Its beginnings, however, were something less than auspicious. "It started as a joke, from my house," recalled event organizer Herb Massinger. He had planned a little 5K jaunt from his home as part of a Christmas party, handing out photo copies of a hand-drawn flyer to his running buddies. He expected 50 people or so, but word got around.

December 9, 1993 | RICK VANDERKNYFF, Rick VanderKnyff is a free-lance writer who regularly contributes to The Times Orange County Edition. and

Dana Point's Rudolf Runoff 5K drew 1,000 runners last year, and more are expected for its fifth running Sunday. Its beginnings, however, were something less than auspicious. "It started as a joke, from my house," recalled event organizer Herb Massinger. He had planned a little 5K jaunt from his home as part of a Christmas party, handing out photo copies of a hand-drawn flyer to his running buddies. He expected 50 people or so, but word got around.

It has been 10 years since there was a road-racing series in Orange County, and now Race Pace Promotions of Dana Point wants to bring one back for good. The Saturn Super Series, scheduled to begin Oct. 25 with the Monster Mash Dash in Irvine, will feature three 5K races over a period of three months. Prizes--merchandise definitely, and perhaps cash--will be awarded to winners of each race and to the top overall male and female of the series.

It has been 10 years since there was a road-racing series in Orange County, and now Race Pace Promotions of Dana Point wants to bring one back for good. The Saturn Super Series, scheduled to begin Oct. 25 with the Monster Mash Dash in Irvine, will feature three 5K races over a period of three months. Prizes--merchandise definitely, and perhaps cash--will be awarded to winners of each race and to the top overall male and female of the series.

November 4, 1993 | RICK VANDERKNYFF, Rick VanderKnyff is a free-lance writer who regularly contributes to The Times Orange County Edition. and

The organizers of Sunday's 5K Dinosaur Dash (and its smaller sibling, the 2K Brontosaurus Blitz) swear they're not riding on the coattails of the summer blockbuster "Jurassic Park." In fact, they point out, this is the event's third year, and the 1992 running drew a whopping 2,500 participants to the Tustin Marketplace. The dinosaur theme is carried through in the event's T-shirts, in the prizes, in the decor and even in the costumes worn by some of the runners. "It's really fun.

January 28, 1993 | RICK VANDERKNYFF, Rick VanderKnyff is a free-lance writer who regularly
contributes to The Times Orange County Edition.

One of the Southland's most popular running events is the Super Bowl Sunday 10K in Redondo Beach, which has become a yearly ritual for thousands of local runners. Scott Muirhead of Race Pace Promotions is hoping to divert some of those race fans to Santa Ana for the Big Game Stampede 5K, now in its second year, which starts at the Crazy Horse Steak House.

Orange County will get another chance at establishing an annual marathon, thanks to the City Council's less-than-enthusiastic approval of the upcoming Pacific Shoreline Marathon. Council members voted 6 to 1 Monday night to go ahead with the event, though they expressed concerns about late notice from city staff and extended road closures. The Jan. 26 marathon will require the closing of Pacific Coast Highway between Beach Boulevard and Warner Avenue from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mayor Ralph H.

City leaders are planning what will be the first marathon in Orange County in more than a decade, hoping it will become an annual event attracting thousands of runners and spectators. But they also are wary of what it will require: the closing of Pacific Coast Highway until 2 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday. Council members Monday will be asked to approve a resolution calling for the closing of Pacific Coast Highway between Beach Boulevard and Warner Avenue from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Jan. 26.

May 13, 1993 | RICK VANDERKNYFF, Rick VanderKnyff is a free-lance writer who regularly contributes to The Times Orange County Edition. and

If you see Johann Sebastian Bach running through the streets of Newport Beach on Sunday chased by 1,000 or so men and women in jogging attire, don't be alarmed. It's all part of the Bach Bay 8K, a run and walk that takes a classical music theme as it winds around Upper Newport Bay. Although Bach himself is too dead to make an appearance, a "mystery runner" dressed as the composer will run the course and pace the race.

January 27, 1994 | RICK VANDERKNYFF, Rick VanderKnyff is a free-lance writer who regularly contributes to The Times Orange County Edition

Dana Point-based Race Pace Promotions had a couple of goals when it created the three-year-old Saturn Super Series, a trio of 5K runs that concludes Sunday with the Big Game Stampede in Santa Ana. For one, organizers wanted to offer a local alternative to the Super Bowl Sunday 10K in Redondo Beach, which is billed as the largest 10K on the West Coast, drawing 13,000 last year. About 1,200 are expected for the 5K. Another thing Race Pace wanted is a series in which cumulative times are tracked.

Promoters of the Pacific Shoreline Marathon in Huntington Beach want to offer runners a beer after the race as a way to attract more participants, sponsors and dollars to the annual event. And despite the Police Department's objections, they will get their chance on a trial basis at the next race, Jan. 27. The City Council recently approved a beer garden for runners on several conditions, including a limit of two beers per runner and only within the exposition area at Pier Plaza after the race.

In an effort to attract international attention to the Port of Los Angeles, the Board of Harbor Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to set up a nonprofit corporation to stage an annual international triathlon in the harbor area. The commissioners also set aside $100,000 as seed money for the corporation, which will be called the Worldport LA International Triathlon Corp.